Keyboard shortcut to move window to a side in Gnome

Question

In Windows I can press Windows + left/right/up/down keys to press a window against the upper, right, down, or left side respectively. Is there an equivalent in Ubuntu?

Distro: Ubuntu 12.04, using Gnome.

"Move around" or being pressed against the upper, right, down, left side? — Braiam, Dec 05 '13 at 01:45
In GNOME shell only Ctrl + Super + Left/Right works, others don't. — Braiam, Dec 05 '13 at 02:47
You should clarify in your title and question body what desktop environment or window manager you are using. Your answer will be specific to that and not the distro. Ubuntu probably means you are using Unity, but I wont assume that. — casey, Dec 05 '13 at 05:24

score 26 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 08 '16 at 14:11

26

Taken from comments, here's the answer that helped me, no tools needed.

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

Ctrl+Super+Left Arrow - Dock to the left side of your monitor

Ctrl+Super+Right Arrow - Dock to the right side of your monitor

Ctrl+Super+Up Arrow - Maximize the window

Ctrl+Super+Down Arrow (When docked or maximized) - Restore the window.

Ctrl+Super+Down Arrow (When restored) - Minimize the window.

This won't move windows between monitors like it does in Windows. I haven't figured out a way to do that.

answered Dec 08 '16 at 14:11

Brandon

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Somehow the left and right sides aren't working. Everything else seems to work. Any ideas why? – Raffi Khatchadourian Aug 21 '17 at 21:12
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To get left/right to work, I just used Super+Left Arrow. That seemed to pull the window over. Also this worked to bring it from offscreen – Jonathan Nov 16 '17 at 22:46
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Just a tip, Super = "Windows" key on most keyboards – Justas Jan 25 '18 at 21:29
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Aren't these shortcuts for Unity, not for GNOME Shell? – Flimm Mar 16 '18 at 11:30
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In Gnome 3.28 `Shift` + `Super` + `Arrow` moves window between screens. Using just `Super` + `Arrow` changes window's size and location in current screen. – Noam Manos May 02 '22 at 09:13

score 15 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 05 '13 at 11:21

15

Yes...there is a way in Linux to do so ( and to your surprise, it will also work in Windows too )

Just press Alt+Spacebar then hit the key m and then move wherever you want by usin the arrow keys. Once you done, hit the Enter key.

And, oh yeah, It will work if and only if the window in question is not fully maximized

answered Dec 05 '13 at 11:21

SHW

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You can condense `Alt+space M` into `Alt+F7` (but it's less easy to memorize). But that's not quite the same thing, you have to align the window with the screen border manually. – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Dec 05 '13 at 22:49
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And the window gets moved in steps, so won't be able to to fit snuggly against a side – Peter V. Mørch Jul 18 '14 at 04:51
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I'm running the Prism window manager in Ubuntu and `Alt+Spacebar` is the default combination for opening the search bar. FYI for prism users. – Brandon Jan 16 '17 at 15:13
thanks for this. Accidentally moved the window so the toolbar was out of the field of view. – matthew_360 Oct 12 '17 at 20:59
No longer works in Gnome on Ubuntu 17.10 – Jonathan Nov 16 '17 at 22:44

score 9 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 06 '18 at 10:33

9

tested in the current gnome 3.28 on ubuntu 18.04

SUPER+← moves the window to the left
SUPER+→ moves the window to the right

edited Jun 06 '18 at 10:33

Kevin Lemaire

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answered Jun 06 '18 at 09:46

user8162

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Ctrl + Alt + Keypad for others movements don't work in 18.04, any idea how to fix? – Pratik Gaikwad Jul 07 '18 at 18:23
CTRL+ALT+↓/↑ for workspace switching is working fine. For others, you can define it in settings→keyboard. Note that ubuntu now used gnome. – user8162 Jul 09 '18 at 15:39

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 06 '13 at 01:34

There's no predefined shortcut, but you can make your own. Install the xdotool utility. The following commands move a window to the top and bottom respectively:

xdotool windowmove $(xdotool getwindowfocus) x 0
xdotool windowmove $(xdotool getwindowfocus) x 9999

(Some installations have the unfortunate bug that using x or y, which is supposed to leave that coordinate unchanged, doesn't take the width of the window border into account.)

To bind a command like this to a key, go to the system settings, in the “Keyboard” panel, in the “Shortcuts” tab. Select “Custom Shortcuts” and click the + sign to add a new shortcut.

a somewhat cleaner way is using getactivewindow: `xdotool getactivewindow windowmove x 0` — glS, Apr 27 '15 at 13:11

t7ko · Answer 5 · 2015-01-02T18:59:46.643

If you use xbindkeys and have xdotool utility installed, you can add the following lines to your ~/.xbindkeysrc to enable win+left and win+right to move current active window to the left/right half of the screen:

"xdotool windowsize $(xdotool getwindowfocus) 50% 100% && xdotool windowmove $(xdotool getwindowfocus) 0 y"
    Mod2+Mod4 + Left

"xdotool windowsize $(xdotool getwindowfocus) 50% 100% && xdotool windowmove $(xdotool getwindowfocus) 9999 y"
    Mod2+Mod4 + Right

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered May 20 '21 at 20:25

2

In Ubuntu 20.04, the shortcuts can be changed by opening up Keyboard Shortcuts (e.g. by pressing Super and searching for it) and editing "View split on right" and "View split on left" and "Maximize window" and "Restore window".

answered May 20 '21 at 20:25

Janus Troelsen

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score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 02 '17 at 19:23

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There's a more flexible builtin way, as Ctrl+Super+Arrow doesn't allow a window to take only a quarter of the screen (for example top left or bottom right).

You can use Ctrl+Alt+Keypad. Which keypad number is pressed (1, 2...) will determine the position of the window (bottom left, bottom...).

answered Jun 02 '17 at 19:23

coyotte508

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It's possible to change the Ctrl + Alt + Keypad for others keys? Like Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Keypad – Arnold Roa Nov 02 '17 at 01:13
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I have no idea why this had a downvote. This exactly what I was looking for. Have an upvote to get back in there. – rubynorails Mar 26 '18 at 20:44

AntonyMan · Answer 8 · 2018-05-16T17:57:28.343

I'm using ubuntu 12.04 gnome classic, but i think it's the same thing for all ubuntu.

Here is what I do:

First of all, you need to install "stiller".

1) Open terminal Ctrl+Alt+T and type:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:fossfreedom/xfwm4
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install stiler

Second, now you can edit keyboard shortcuts by:

2) Go to "System Settings" -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts ->

Press "Custom Shortcuts" (at the left pane)

Press "+" symbol (at down left of the window)

3) In the "Custom Shortcut" window that is just open, type:

(for example)

"View split on left" as a name, and

"stiler.py left" as a command, and press "Apply".

4) Press "Disable" (it's on the same line with the "View split on left" you just created)

and press the keys combination "Ctrl+Supper+Left" on your keyboard.

The same thing for any combination shortcut as for example:

"View split on Right" as a name,

"stiler.py right" as a command,

"Ctrl+Supper+Right" as a keys combination.

OR

"Gnome Search Tool" as a name,

"gnome-search-tool" as a command,

"Super+F" as a keys combination.

OR

"System Monitor" as a name,

"gnome-system-monitor" as a command,

"Ctrl+Shift+Esc" as a keys combination.

This is just an example, it's up to you which name, command, and keys combination you need to use.

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 09 '21 at 09:32

0

There's a quite convenient Gnome extension to achieve the behavior w/o frustration: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/39/put-windows/

answered Jun 09 '21 at 09:32

George L. Yermulnik

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Welcome to the site, and thank you for your contribution. You may want to add a short summary on how to configura this extension to achieve the OPs desired behavior. – AdminBee Jun 09 '21 at 09:52

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Feb 04 '22 at 18:54

0

This is still relevant as of 2022, so here's a solution:

The actions are available, but they are not mapped.

In MATE or Gnome, map them with "Keyboard Shortcuts", aka mate-keybinding-properties or gnome-keybinding-properties.

answered Feb 04 '22 at 18:54

Michał Leon

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Keyboard shortcut to move window to a side in Gnome

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